Riot New Media

I don’t know about you, but I have found myself sinking deeper and deeper into fantasy reads as this pandemic goes on. So much of my reading these days is not based in reality—and it’s awesome!

This is a fantastic standalone debut about witches and curses, which (witch?) are two great tastes that taste great together. Tamsin is a powerful witch who has been exiled by the Coven and cursed with the inability to love on her own. If she wants to feel love, she has to steal the emotion from others. Wren is a source: she is made of magic, but unable to perform magic herself. Sources are required to be turned over to the Coven to be raised and trained, but Wren’s father defied orders and hid her away. Now Wren’s father is sick and Wren wants to make a deal with Tamsin: if Tamsin exposes the witch who made her father ill, Wren will give her all the love she has for her father, which should last her a long time.

But just because they’re going to exchange love doesn’t mean they have to like one another. And they don’t. But as Tamsin and Wren embark on a dangerous adventure to find the culprit behind Wren’s father’s illness, time has a way of magically changing things. This is an excellent queer YA fantasy and I hope Tooley changes her mind about it being a standalone!

Backlist bump: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Issacson is well-known for his in-depth, award winning biographies of people such as Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci. He now turns his attention to Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues, who are working to develop gene editing. In this thoroughly researched account, we learn not just about Doudna and her work, but what gene editing is, what its use means for science, and the moral issues surrounding human’s ability to change the code in our genes. Such future work could make humankind less susceptible to viruses and more. It’s mind-boggling how far science has advanced. If you love fast-paced science books about fascinating subjects that really make you think, this is the book for you! (And remember it at the holidays this year when you need a good history book to give as a gift for your dad, grandma, etc.)

Backlist bump: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

It seems hard to believe that I have been enjoying this delightful series for seven books now, but here we are. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries, I highly recommend picking up this series. It’s about Lana Lee, a young woman who runs her family’s Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, something she didn’t think would happen when she was younger. The first book starts with her return home and the murder of the restaurant’s landlord. Lana works to clear her name and find the culprit so that the handsome detective investigating the case will stop thinking she’s guilty.

Through the series, Lana and Detective Adam investigate suspicious deaths that happen around them. In this last book, Lana and Adam must figure out who has murdered Lana’s cooking instructor to get Lana’s name off the list of suspects. If you like your crime novels with little blood, sex, or violence, and enjoy witty banter and flat-out charm, pick this series up today! (And look at that cover! Book covers with images of skulls made from other things are my kryptonite.)

Backlist bump: Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien